Is Your Dog a Hunter?

[Maxy24]

Tucker loves to chase small fuzzies. I don't know for sure that he'd kill them...he once stalked our momma rabbit (lives in the yard) who has become habituated to us. He was on his long lead and I wasn't going to let him get her. She just layed there and when he was like four feet away she just sort of hobbled off, started to run and then stopped short where she had been laying and ate her poop instead lol. But he has killed a mouse (and swallowed it whole) and when he is close to a wild animal and it takes off he does a banshee cry because he can't get it. So I think he would kill it, but I don't plan on letting it happen, I like the little fuzzies.

I am afraid Tucker might have a hard time living with cats other than our two, he still chases ours but doesn't hurt them. The way he reacts to cats outside is very concerning though.

[TahlzK]

My two would happily chase down and kill any critter (besides dogs). It doesn't bother me honestly. I let them chase critters at times, if the situation is right. They've only chased birds/ducks. They both have killed a few lizards/birds in the yard. Serenity once chased a Wallaby but I was a tad concerned about her being hurt and I didn't see the point in letting her hurt it so I was glad she came when I called her off from the chase.

[*blackrose]

Chloe doesn't really hunt, but she does critter. She's more of the type of dog that if the animal isn't making any sudden movements and isn't encroaching on her territory she'd be more apt to leave it alone than anything else. She gets along with whatever little fuzzy creature I bring home.

Rose hunts. Field mice, rabbits, moles, birds, squirrels, what have you. She used to chase and kill cats, but we broke her of that when we were adopted by the barn cats.

Cynder also hunts. Mike has a plethora of chipmunks living in his yard (I see more of them than I do squirrels O.o) and Cynder LOVES to chase the chipmunks. Any little creature outside is fair game, but she's also great with small pets.

Gracie and Cooper just sort of follow Cynder around. They don't really hunt, although I think Gracie would critter. Cooper just runs because everyone else is running. lol

[Snark]

Mick and Murph are both hunters - for awhile there, every time I took them walking off leash on my neighbor's 60 acres (heavily wooded), they would come back with something - squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, possum... Murph really, really would like to catch a deer but they don't play fair and generally sail over the fence.

Riley is in it for the chase, he'll run a critter down but the older boys are the ones who will finish it off. He's also the one who will dig up the moles but I don't think he kills them, he tends to play with them. I've seen Mick and Murph laying nearby while Riley digs - then I find little mole bodies in the yard.

Day before yesterday, Mick killed a raccoon in the yard. I don't mind the dogs killing vermin but they'll go after the barn cats, too, which is why none of them are allowed up by the barn. I wish they'd leave the cats alone, we've had a problem with raccoons being a nuisance around the barn and the dogs could take care of it, but not at the expense of our cats.

[Shai]

Kim loves loves loves a good chase. And if she can catch it she will eat it. Hasn't been a problem since she calls off but given the opportunity she really loves chasing deer, birds, and small fuzzy creatures. She's only actually taken out rabbits and mice. She tends to walk the line between wanting to control motion and wanting to take out the target.

Webster too loves a chase. Not sure he'd go after a deer...he's never had the chance. Cats, small wild creatures, etc. are all on his chase radar. He's only even killed mice but he's take out quite a few (all outdoors fwiw). He bears more watching and it took a while to convince him that our indoor cat was not on his list of chaseable creatures...no matter how much he wanted her to be...

Mira has a lot of prey drive but it's very highly modified. If she thinks it's retrievable she will go after it til the end of time but if told it's not a retrieveable item before she starts it ceases to exist to her. She's chased down animals with the other two from time to time but I always though she was just running with them for kicks until she grabbed a baby robin out from under Kim. And delivered it to hand unscathed. She was maybe 10 months old at the time?

[AdrianneIsabel]

Arnold has killed more things than I am proud to admit.

Shamoo is not safe with cats.

Backup and Sloan have never killed anything. They perk when they see rabbits and some birds but I tell them to leave it and they do. I have no valid reason for allowing my dogs to chase or kill other animals.

[k9krazee]

Oh yes. My JRTs hunt & kill anything that comes into the yard. Opossums, squirrels, raccoons, turtles, rabbits, moles, voles, mice, chipmunks, snakes, woodchucks...

Micki got Leptospirosis years ago from killing mice -- we almost lost him to kidney failure and we have since vaccinated against Lepto because of all the critters they kill.

They will chase cats that are not ours but have never killed one.

Jack barks at squirrels and chase chipmunks but that's the extent of his "hunting". He looses interst quickly.

[Gypsydals]

Originally Posted by Xandra

He has lots of prey drive and he is ecstatic when he gets to "hunt" or chase something.

But he has absolutely zero stalking sense. He just charges it. Very ineffective lol.

As I mentioned in another thread, I have tried making him move towards it slowly but then he just screeches/whines/barks and it runs away anyhow. Stupid dog lol.

^This is Ivan. Quietly stalking is.not.in.his.vocabulary.

[SarahHound]

Lucy does, to the point she rarely gets off the lead, because she will keep going until she catches and kills whatever she sees. Rabbits are OK, but she will also go for sheep, which I can't have her doing.

She is OK with small animals inside, but anything outside, it fair game to her.

Katy has some instinct, but its more chase to play more than anything.

Todd was terrible in his younger days. Anything that moved would have him a quivering wreck with anticipation for the chase, but rarely does he move these days!

Originally Posted by Taqroy

Murphy caught and killed a squirrel in our yard a couple months ago. To my knowledge it was the first one in the five years I've had him (but not for lack of trying). Mu likes to chase squirrels and did catch one the other day. She squished it a couple times and the poor thing started squealing and she lost her grip.

Gah, that's only happened a few times that I know of...and that was bad enough. I do not have the heart to put something out of it's misery. A skilled cat will either leave something alive to play with or one bite to the neck and it's over. Hideous seeing a creature mauled and suffering. Fortunately Soph almost never catches up with what she's chasing.